I don't know if something like this already exists or if this even works for everyone.

I am using the Arduino software and often i just want to know if there is already a library for the thing i want to do,if there is a new version of a library or just to download and install a library easily.

i made an application in C++ and wxWidgets to do exactly this.It is using currently using 7zip for extracting the libs after download.

It was my first try in coding with wxWidgets and Gui development in C++ so i hope it is not too bad. I only tested it on my windows machine and compiled it there, but i tried to only use things that are multiplatform compatible.

I think we need to model the 'structure' after how the official team does it, and that is to zip the archive which the files resides in. That is, so one extracts within the libraries archive (this way one does not have to create a new folder before extracting).Reference: http://www.arduino.cc/en/Hacking/LibraryTutorial

I think the community should be the 'check' so that we could have a flag for 'does not work' for instance. And maybe also a vote up/down.

I've purchased a domain/webhotel and started on the UI: http://www.arduinolibraries.net/Please come with ideas and feedback!

Nothing is carved in stone, and I'm not in favor of any one solution.

I for one think this effort can be of great service for the Arduino community.

I've created a first draft of an Arduino Library Markup LanguageSample XML: http://alexanderbrevig.com/hosting/arduinolibraries.net/ArduinolibML.xmlSample XSD: http://alexanderbrevig.com/hosting/arduinolibraries.net/ArduinolibML.xsd

Thoughts and feedback VERY much welcome.

@beo6 since you know C++ you'll need just a minimal amount of time to understand JavaThese types of applications is what works best on Java, IMHO.

Will look to change my application as soon as the XML format is right.

There's probably several things missing. But, because I would want to keep track of versions, the 'upload a library' (which will actually be 'provide an URL to your zip archive) will be an action that has to do with a library version. So I think it's best to have a separate form for adding a new version of a library.

Feel free to have a look at the XML and rewrite it as you would like it to be. The most important features for me is:

any number of authors

a short library descriptions

any number of library versions, with a version number, a .zip and a short description

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So i will change it that every uploaded zip needs only 1 folder with the libraryname and inside that the library cpp files with examples.

That is brilliant.

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@AlphaBeta´s Edit:I don't really understand what idea you mean that is stupid. :-?

If you thought I was an ass for suggesting a rewrite, I'd like to apologize. That's all.Keeping this project a separate endeavor is probably not a problem at all. It is the service which is in focus, and when we get used to being able to easily download libraries, and have an XML and a backing website in place, adding a downloader to the IDE won't be hard at all.

It's because the Arduino team used an already developed multiplatform/open sourced IDE used in the Processing project. This allowed the Arduino project to come to light much quicker then if they had to create the IDE from scratch. Nothing to do with language wars.